Building a Better Memphis

Building A Better Memphis 2009 Community Report About Us... The Hyde Family Foundations are committed to building a better Memphis. Through active, engaged philanthropy, our mission is to empower the people and programs that are making measurable differences in the community, and to provide leadership on public policy issues that will help Memphis become a world-class, 21st century city. Established in 1961, the Hyde Family Foundations identify, create and support public and private efforts capable of producing innovative, positive change in our city. We are passionate about supporting high-impact initiatives in Memphis, focusing on three distinct areas of influence: I Transforming Education I Strengthening Neighborhoods I Positioning Authentic Assets 1 Hyde Family Foundations 2009 Community Report Dear Friends, At the Hyde Family Foundations, we believe passionately in the people, places and things that make Memphis a special city, and we’re just as confident in the potential Memphis has to become a model city of the 21st century. Photo by Trey Clark. by Trey Photo Our work puts us in contact with the smartest, most innovative, resourceful and selfless leaders in Memphis, all of whom are making a difference in one corner or another of the community. Their accomplishments are the building blocks that make Memphis a great place to live and to work, and their vision is what will make us even greater. The Foundations’ philanthropic efforts are focused on three priorities: transforming education, strengthening neighborhoods, and positioning Memphis’ authentic assets. In this report to the community, you’ll read about some of the people and organizations that are achieving great things in each of these vitally important areas. Ever since Pitt and Jeanne’s grandfather, J.R. Hyde Sr., created our first foundation in 1961, we’ve been fortunate to associate with visionary leaders who are tackling our city’s most pressing challenges. Over the years, our program partners have not only improved the quality of life of our people but have also positioned our city to successfully compete in the global marketplace. Together, we’re building a better Memphis. Our future is bright. Sincerely, Barbara Hyde President, J.R. Hyde III Family Foundation Trustee, J.R. Hyde Senior Family Foundation 2-3 Hyde Family Foundations 2009 Community Report Transforming Education The Hyde Family Foundations believe that the most critical issue facing our city’s educational system is the challenge of closing the significant achievement gap that exists between lower- and higher-income students. We are not wed to any one delivery system (public, independent, charter, etc.); rather, we support schools that set high expectations and standards, demonstrate a relentless focus on academic results, have strong leaders, and meet clear benchmarks for student success. One such school in the Hyde network is the Power Center Academy, which like all charter schools is provided autonomy in exchange for accountability and results. Memphis’ Power Center Academy is not yet a year old, but principal Yetta Lewis says she’s already collected memories to last a lifetime. Photos by Lisa Buser. by Lisa Buser. Photos When she thinks of the positive impact the school is Yetta Lewis, Principal, Power Center Academy making on the 125 sixth-graders enrolled at the Hickory Hill neighborhood public charter school, she recalls the She remembers the student who scraped together enough moments in time when young lives began to be change to open a $1 student savings account, then proudly transformed. stood in line for 15 minutes the next day to see how much interest he had earned. She remembers the grandmother who visited her office one day to tell her that, for the first time in her grandson’s life, She remembers the budding artist who designed the he was making friends and enjoying school. school’s logo, the young entrepreneurs who launched their own comic book business, the future recruiter who convinced his neighborhood pal to apply for admission, tomorrow’s computer whizzes who arrive at school early each day to log in to their new MacBook laptops. “Our mission is to develop the next generation of leaders for the Hickory Hill community and beyond, and we’re “Our students are engaged in accomplishing that by creating an atmosphere where students are excited to come to school,” said Lewis, a the learning process and are graduate of the New Leaders for New Schools program that prepares principals to successfully navigate the becoming critical thinkers.” challenges facing urban schools. “Our students are engaged in the learning process and are becoming critical thinkers.” – Yetta Lewis transforming education More than half of the school’s teachers are products of the I New Leaders - Since launching in 2004, the Memphis New Teach For America program, and the school’s curriculum Leaders for New Schools program has produced 56 graduates, revolves around five areas of focus: scholarship, technology with 12 current residents-in-training. The organization had a number of academic successes in Memphis in 2008: (hence the laptops for each student), financial literacy (the SunTrust student bank allows students to earn savings and – Four of the district’s 12 schools that made gains of 20-plus percentage points on student proficiency levels in math and manage a checkbook), entrepreneurship (students research reading were led by New Leaders-trained principals. and develop their own companies), and community service (students are required to perform six to eight hours of – Twenty-two percent of New Leaders-led schools made gains of 20-plus percentage points on student proficiency levels in service per year outside of school). While the school serves math and reading. only sixth-graders this year, a seventh grade will be added I Top of Their Class - The 2007-08 class of Memphis Teach next year and eighth grade in 2010-2011. for America participants was the highest-performing corps in the United States. Twenty-two 2008 graduates of the Memphis Why are kids excelling at the Power Center Academy? Teach for America program are now working full time in the Consider these attributes of the school: a longer school day Memphis schools, including three department chairpersons and with more time to master core subjects, high expectations two corps members who are opening charter schools in 2010. and standards, talented and committed educators, a I “Hire” Education - The New Teacher Project has brought demanding curriculum, and effective integration of about significant changes in teacher hiring practices in Memphis. After working with 20 of Memphis City Schools’ lowest-performing technology. schools in 2008 – with most of these schools plagued with high vacancy rates at the beginning of each school year – TNTP was “Every student, if provided with a rigorous college-prep able to fill all vacancies well ahead of opening day (with curriculum and held to high expectations, can be candidates having higher GPAs and more candidates with master’s degrees). successful,” said Greg Thompson, education program director for the Foundations, which provided seed money to help launch the Academy and has provided ongoing assistance related to staffing, professional development and college, it is producing the homegrown talent that will strategic planning. “Not only is the Power Center drive our local economy and that will become engaged in Academy putting every one of its students on the path to our communities.” Power Center Academy 4-5 Hyde Family Foundations 2009 Community Report Strengthening Neighborhoods When the Rev. Kenneth Robinson became the pastor at St. Andrew AME Church in 1991, he found the 30-year- old church – much like the neighborhood that surrounded it – in decline. The church’s once-thriving day care facility was suffering, congregants were losing hope, area businesses were shuttering and nearby housing was deteriorating. Robinson, ever the visionary, saw opportunity where few others even chose to look, and the result has been a transformation of the church with continuing ripple effects in the community. With broad-based support from the Hyde Family Foundations, a revitalized St. Andrew has served as a community anchor leading to a renaissance so profound that the Memphis Regional Design Center has chosen the south Memphis neighborhood as its initial showcase project. Robinson started small, working to restore the childcare center; the center is now a licensed, three-star, nationally Photos by Lisa Buser. by Lisa Buser. Photos accredited facility. Rev. Kenneth Robinson, Pastor, St. Andrew AME Church From there, staff and volunteers turned their attention to older kids, developing after-school programs and alternative classrooms for at-risk children. The presence of vibrant, highly functioning neighborhoods is critical to Memphis becoming a The success of those programs gave birth to St. Andrew’s world-class, 21st century city. Because strong own charter school, the Circles of Success Learning neighborhood anchors make city-building possible, Academy, which is the first nationally accredited charter the Hyde Family Foundations support strategic school in Tennessee. partnerships focused on asset-based neighborhood development. One such example is St. Andrew AME Church, “Ours is a marvelously a 140-year-old congregation in south Memphis with several active ministries, including a world- diverse congregation with a class childcare center, charter school, community unified mission; our ability to center, and community development corporation (CDC), The Works, Inc. Through the efforts of the transform this neighborhood Rev. Kenneth Robinson and his congregation, St. Andrew has entered into a precedent-setting into a sustainable, healthy partnership with the city of Memphis to revitalize community will be the the surrounding neighborhood. ultimate measure of our success.” – Rev. Kenneth Robinson strengthening neighborhoods As the education needs of the neighborhood’s children began to be addressed, Robinson began to tackle other Memphis HOPE is a unique, public/private partnership in the city basic necessities for area residents, such as food and of Memphis designed to support the redevelopment of two of clothing.

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